Shares of Rivian Automotive, Inc. (RIVN) are climbing Monday, driven by a combination of leadership changes and ongoing analyst attention to the electric vehicle maker.

Fresh Executive Talent

Rivian has brought on Greg Revelle as its new Chief Customer Officer. Revelle arrives with a renewable energy background and serves as a board member of Cars.com. He'll be running the company's go-to-market operations, which means he's overseeing sales, marketing and the broader operational strategy.

"We are excited that Greg is bringing his deep experience across eCommerce, marketing and automotive to Rivian," said CEO RJ Scaringe.

A Recall Complicates the Picture

Last week brought less welcome news. Rivian disclosed that a defect on certain R1 vehicles could increase the risk of a crash. The company knows of one incident involving minor injuries in an affected vehicle. Following National Highway and Traffic Safety Administration regulations, the automaker issued a recall covering almost 20,000 cars.

Wall Street's Take Is All Over The Map

The analyst community currently rates the stock at hold, but opinions vary widely. On Monday, Wolfe Research analyst Emmanuel Rosner downgraded Rivian from peer perform to underperform while maintaining a $16 price target.

Last week told a different story. Piper Sandler analyst Alexander Potter kept a neutral rating but bumped the price target from $14 to $20. Canaccord Genuity analyst George Gianarikas reiterated a buy rating with a $21 price target.

Production Numbers on Target

Rivian doesn't report fourth quarter and full-year earnings until February, but the company released preliminary figures in early January. In Q4, the automaker produced almost 11,000 vehicles and delivered nearly 10,000.

For the full year, Rivian produced 42,284 vehicles and delivered 42,247. Both quarterly and annual numbers matched the company's expectations, which matters when you're trying to prove you can scale manufacturing.

Where The Stock Stands

Price Action: Rivian shares were down 1.09% at $19.01 at the time of publication.